A great deal of Australian patriotic music was inspired by Australia's involvment in military conflicts.
In 1899 the Australian colonies committed contignents to the South African War, also known as the Boer War. The songs that were inspired by the conflict show Australia's colonial self image as firmly part of the British Empire but over time, particularly after Federation, songs were written that reflected our growing national identity.

The Oxford companion to Australian music , Melbourne : Oxford University Press, 1997

Chamberlain, W. M. The war with Johnny Boer : Australians in the Boer War, 1899-1902, Loftus [N.S.W.] : Australian Military History Publications, 2003

Paterson, A. B. From the front : being the observations of Mr. A.B. (Banjo) Paterson, special war correspondent in South Africa, November 1899 to July 1900, for the Argus, the Sydney Mail, the Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney : Pan Macmillan, 2000

Chief of Army/Australian War Memorial History Conference, (1999 : Canberra, A.C.T.) The Boer War : army, nation and empire, Canberra : Dept. of Defence, Army History Unit, 2000